


Dragon Claimed

by Foodmoon



Series: Oddball fics [31]
Category: Naruto
Genre: 4-claw vs 5-claw culture, Alive Sakumo, Dimensional Travel, Do not share for profit, Dragons, F/M, Gen, Hatake Clan, Hyuuga Hokage, M/M, Minor Time Travel, No Kaguya, No Uchiha Massacre, Sadako-hime probably deserves her own warning, Two Kakashis, low key crack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22020271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foodmoon/pseuds/Foodmoon
Summary: Kakashi breaks out of Tsukuyomi, but it's nothisdimension he ends up in. Fortunately he lands at Iruka sensei's feet. At least this world isn't at war with rogue Uchihas, plant monsters and an alien princess. On the other hand, it does have dragons and raijus and an alternate him.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & OC characters, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Series: Oddball fics [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/938265
Comments: 48
Kudos: 197





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> _This is a total idea revamp of a fic I posted a while back and ended up deleting for reasons that amounted to writing while overly tired and being too lazy to check inspiration sources before posting. Yeah. Anyways, the only real similarity is that Iruka's a shape-shifting dragon in this one too. Oh, and the first two scenes, but those were entirely mine to begin with. On another note, some of you may recognize Termaire as the source for the idea of 4-claw vs 5-claw asian dragons, although it bears little resemblance beyond that cuz I can't seem to leave ideas untweaked. And dragons hoarding people is from a M/M author (Mell Eight) whose characterization tends to be adorable._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was no 'Kaguya and sidekicks' in this world.  
> There was, however, an ‘elite human’ called ‘the Sage of Six Paths’, who was as nutty as a fruitcake dropped in a bag of walnuts and thrown at a wall. Recorded as the first successful sage, it was nevertheless a close thing, since he ended up with stony, toad-horn-like forehead protrusions before succeeding. Something of a mad scientist in the chakra sector, he devised arrays to accumulate vast amounts of chakra. Arguably _this_ is when his ‘a bit off’ tipped over into ‘full blown crazytunes’. He started referring to the chakra accumulation as his ‘mother’ and alternately claiming that she was _‘a lovely woman who just wanted world peace’_ and that she wanted _‘to take over the world and kill everyone so she could reclaim her chakra’_.  
> In the end, his brother played into his paranoia and talked him into splitting up the mass of chakra, which was showing disturbing signs of sentience, into nine pieces. Thus creating the nine tailed beasts which became known as the chaos beasts rather than bijuu.  
> It is theorized that elite humans _(i.e. chakra users)_ and four-clawed dragons came about when the overflow from splitting the chakra mass into nine entities occurred and affected humans and dragons _(five-clawed)_ within a certain number of miles. Though the real story is that four- and five-clawed dragons have always existed; the Sage married a four-clawed dragon and some of his kids came out dragons, others came out human. And his very noticeable experimentation alerted the world at large that humans _could_ use chakra, prompting a lot of people to start playing with it, which is the origin of most of the ‘elite human’ clans.  
> After splitting the chakra mass, the Sage then decided to adopt the resultant chakra beasts as his ‘children’ and educated them in various things _(like human language and manners)_ before turning them loose on the world at large. Needless to say, as humanity expanded into previously unsettled areas this went less than swimmingly, since the chakra beasts _(soon known as the chaos beasts)_ had issues with humans screaming and running away when they tried to talk to them or attacking them when they tried to come over for tea. And humans had issues with gigantic flaming masses of chakra accidentally squishing fields, knocking over buildings and then rumbling words at them like natural disasters should _normally_ be able to talk or something crazy like that.

_Tsukuyomi…_

Kakashi has the creeping feeling that something is _wrong,_ is _off_ about this happy world, that he doesn’t _deserve_ this happiness. A simple ‘Kai’ doesn’t change anything and he frowns, ignoring Minato-sensei’s worried look and Obito’s questions and Rin’s puzzled look. _Oh. Something’s pulling on his chakra, a slow, steady drain. In that case…_

He slows the flow where it’s draining, letting the chakra build up within, letting it _build,_ and carefully molding it, transforming it. _And lets it go,_ forcing it out in one lethal burst, lightning erupting all around him. Rin and Minato-sensei waver and slide away and Obito _lunges_ for him but doesn’t quite reach. The illusion shatters.

 _Reality_ cracks briefly, flinging Kakashi through time and space.

~

_Reality, Naruto world…_

Something in one of the pods changes, as one of the inhabitants fights back. A pathetic attempt, of course, no one can resist forever and then- Lightning bursts forth from the pod, drawing down a lightning bolt out the heat hazed sky to meet it, frying the pod and numerous pods around it enough to jolt the sleepers to wakefulness and struggle free to free others. The pod from where the lightning originated lies blasted open and wilted, with no sign of its former occupant, wisps of smoke rising from its remnants.

In the aftermath, Kakashi Hatake is counted among the missing and presumed dead.

~

_Reality, a world somewhat parallel to Naruto world…_

“A human?”

Kakashi looks up from where he’s sprawled on his side on the stone floor of a cave to see _a dragon?_ coiled upon itself in loops, like a spring made of flesh and scales, its lion-like head tilted down over the top coil to regard him curiously. _He must be hallucinating, but that voice and the scar-like patch of color across its muzzle…_ “Iruka sensei?”

The beast uncoils a bit at that, snaking its long, agile neck down so it can sniff at him and his still slightly smoking clothes. “Ah, I see. I was going to ask why an elite human knows my name and hobby, but you are from another dimension, are you not? You must be familiar with the alternate version of me. By the smell of you, if you were from here you’d be a Hatake. Does your dimension not have raiju?”

“‘Dimension.’” Kakashi repeats numbly, then blinks a few times as he realizes that he probably _(at least)_ is no longer trapped in Obito’s illusionary dimension. “We don’t have dragons either. What are ‘elite humans’? We only have humans and bijuu. And summons.”

“Fascinating.” The dragon withdraws its head to curl up on itself fully again. “By ‘bijuu’ do you mean the nine chaos beasts? And ‘elite’ humans have chakra abilities on par with 4-claws, rather than being powerless like most humans.”

He blinks a few more times, then pushes himself to a sitting position with some effort. “So like ninjas vs civilians. But what are ‘4-claws’?”

The dragon makes an amused noise. “4-claws and 5-claws are both types of dragons. 5-claws like myself are peaceful and little inclined to interact with humans. We live in large, loose-knit communities. 4-claws are more drawn to strife and tend to live in strictly familial clans and interact and even war with elite humans quite often. The Uchihas and Hyuugas are examples that are well known in this dimension.”

 _Right. If this is a genjutsu conjuring Iruka sensei up as a dragon, why not have the noble clans as dragons as well and the Hatake as lightning wolves?_ He opens his left eye, still not out of the habit of keeping it closed to guard against chakra drain, then pauses as the cave comes into too-clear focus.

“Ah, I see you are familiar with the Uchihas, at least, since you have one of their eyes. Though I find it strange that they are not dragons in your dimension, since I can sense that your Uchiha eye holds the same powers common to this dimension among the clan.”

“That’s impossible. I no longer have Obito’s eye.”

“Dimension travel can have strange side effects when one is not properly prepared. In any case,” Iruka sensei says, his body taking on a shimmer of visible chakra and then melting away into a human-shaped form that reminds him vividly of the Iruka of his own dimension. “I suppose I should take you down to the valley so you can be with other elite humans. You might not be welcome if I do not accompany you.”

Kakashi hastily closes his sharingan eye, feeling the too-familiar drain on his chakra. “And I will be welcome if you _do_ accompany me?”

Iruka shrugs. “At least they won’t torture you, thinking you’re an infiltrator. I don’t go to Konoha often, but they are familiar with my identity.”

~

Kakashi trails Iruka, quietly taking in the differences. Uchihas scattered among the various shinobi he sees. Men and women he remembers having passed away still alive and hale. A Hyuuga secretary. A Hyuuga _Hokage_. Coming face to face with another version of himself is unexpected though. And when doing so results in an insulted growl from his counterpart and the telltale scent of ozone, he wisely retreats behind Iruka sensei.

“Pretending to be a Hatake, I can understand. You’re good. But pretending to be _me!?_ ”

“Hatake, stand down.” The Hyuuga Hokage orders. “Iruka-sama, if you would explain what this man is doing with you?”

Iruka shrugs. “He came through a very temporary dimensional rift and landed in my parlor. His dimension has neither dragons nor raiju, but I believe you will find he is a Hatake by blood despite that.”

His alternate self’s glower deepens, and Kakashi notes idly that his alternate self still has both of his original eyes and a scar that cuts across his brow and cheek rather than down over his eye. “He smells of _dogs_ , not wolves.”

Great. He knows exactly how stubborn he can be. Not that smelling like a dog is an _insult_. He gives himself a thin eye smile. “I should. My ninken pack would be offended if I started smelling like _wolves_. Hi. Hatake Kakashi, last of the Hatake, sharingan Kakashi, Copy Ninja at your service. I take it that Konoha isn’t fighting a world ending battle against a rogue Uchiha in this dimension?”

His other self looks offended. “The last rogue Uchiha was Madara and his half-sister Sadako took care of him before retiring to a quieter life. What do you mean ‘last of the Hatake’? There’s still over thirty Hatake at last count. And ‘sharingan Kakashi’? No dragon would give a human one of their eyes.”

Kakashi sighs. “My father, the White Fang of Konoha, was the only other Hatake alive by the time I turned five. And then he killed himself. So I’m the last. As for the sharingan…” He opens his left eye in demonstration. “My teammate Obito gifted it to me for being promoted to jounin. He was crushed under rock debris while saving me from an earth jutsu I did not notice due to having lost my eye while saving him from a sword a bit earlier. There was a war going on, so we were forced to leave him behind and thought him dead, but turns out Madara saved him. Ah. I should probably mention that Obito is the rogue Uchiha trying to trap the world in Tsukuyomi in my dimension.”

“That bumbling idiot would _never_!”

He shrugs at his counterpart. “I guess he grew out of the bumbling bit. Not the idiot part, of course.”

There’s the faintest shift of chakra and Kakashi instinctively substitutes with a pen on the Hokage’s desk, feeling justified when he sees his counterpart has substituted with the potted plant that had been right beside where Kakashi had been standing.

“ _Captain_ Hatake!” The Hokage snaps and Kakashi feels himself snapping to attention as instinctively as his counterpart does. Which has the unfortunate side effect of making him fall off the desk.

His counterpart looks beleaguered. “Sorry, Hokage-sama.”

“I would like your _professional_ opinion, if you please. Is he a Hatake?”

“In my _professional_ opinion, he is _me_ from another dimension. One where I am- he is infected with Obito’s bumbling idiocy. And likely one where there are no dragons or raiju. Because _he_ is not a raiju. And no _dragon_ would give a teammate an eye, for any reason.” His counterpart sounds remarkably sulky over his own conclusions.

The Hokage grimaces. “And you, Kakashi Hatake? What are your plans?”

Kakashi shrugs and picks himself up. “I don’t know, really. I think I was trying to break out of Tsukuyomi when I ended up…in Iruka sensei’s home. Frankly, I doubt there’s any way for me to go back home. Although that’s what I’d _like_ to do.”

“Iruka-sama, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

“Hm.” Iruka stares at Kakashi for a long moment, a look that sends shivers of delicious trepidation up and down his spine, then reaches out and pulls him back to his side. “He’s interesting.”

For some reason the Hokage looks just _so done_. “Alright. The Hatake clan will provide him with accommodations while you make the necessary arrangements.”

Somehow, he has the feeling that he is the only one who really doesn’t understand what’s being said. But it beats being tossed in T&I.

~

They garner curious looks as he walks with his counterpart towards clan lands. More, he suspects, because he looks like he fell through a fire and his counterpart does not, than because there’s two of him walking around together. Konoha citizens are familiar with clones, after all. The fact that his hitai-ate is sticking out of his pocket because the cloth on it gave up the ghost on the walk down to Konoha probably doesn’t help matters. He helpfully finger waves at a puzzled looking Inuzuka as they pass by.

There are small details of architecture and décor that are different in this Konoha.

The Hatake clan lands are where the big differences begin, though. It is not a collection of simple civilian style houses with a bit of land and outbuildings. There is a low fence fashioned from metal rope, that hums with electricity and has fuuinjutsu engraved on each post. The metal gate is likewise innocuous looking but covered in fuuinjutsu and not something Kakashi would like to try to force his way past. He slouches through, pretending to be incurious about the bored looking guard at the gate, who is eyeing them with a dubious expression. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course. He hasn’t seen another clan member since his father died.

Beyond that, there _are_ family homes, but the house he _(or presumably his counterpart)_ grew up in is a sprawling clan house, not the simple abode he remembers from his own dimension. The clan compound isn’t _bustling,_ per se, but there are several people moving around, going about their day. Most of them obviously Hatake born, what with the white hair, but a few who are evidently spouses _(or friends)_ and have varying hair colors.

His counterpart _does_ stop and introduce him to one husband and wife pair, Mari and Haruto, who apart from the hair look like they could be twins rather than spouses and whom, Kakashi gathers, are the Clan Gossips™. Guaranteeing that his counterpart doesn’t have to introduce him individually to every clan member, he supposes. 

The sprawling clan house is _crawling_ with children. For a given value of several of them zipping up and down halls, screaming with laughter and a few flopped out for naps on various pieces of furniture and a couple toddlers playing with stuffed kunai and pale wolf cubs. Live wolf cubs, not stuffed. The mother wolf seems to have been left in charge of the toddlers and she stares at him, then tilts an ear in utter unconcern, going back to watching her charges.

One of the running children abruptly does a flying limpet leap, leaving Kakashi with an armful of child. “Shishi-nii! I got the Earth Wave technique to work! I told you I would!”

Kakashi is not sure what to do with a seven year old human, Hatake or not. “Er, that’s nice? But I’m not your Shishi-nii.”

“I know _that!_ ” She rolls her eyes. Then looks at his counterpart. “Can we keep him? He smells like dogs. And he kind of looks like you, too. We could tell people he’s your twin!”

His counterpart, who is apparently _‘Shishi-nii’_ , sighs in beleaguerment. “He has ninken. And no, we can’t.”

“Aww! Why not?” She wiggles and Kakashi lets her slide down reflexively.

“Because he’s Iruka-sama’s.”

She gives Shishi a miffed look, then eyes Kakashi critically. “His lord sure doesn’t take good care of him. We should keep him.”

Shishi snorts. “If you want to argue with the dragon, go ahead. He thinks Kakashi here is _‘interesting’_.”

“A dragon? Like ‘Bito-nii? I’ll bet I can win an argu-”

“No, the other kind.”

There is a pause. “Oh. Do you think he’d share?”

“You can ask. Don’t blame me if you get eaten, imouto.”

She makes the cutest little grimace. “Five claws don’t _eat_ people, nii-san! Or pigs. Or catfish. Except maybe Sadako-hime, but she’s half ‘Bito-nii kind of dragon, so that doesn’t count even if she does. ‘Sides, she probably only eats rogue Madara-samas.”

“An acquired taste.” He agrees obliquely.

“Should I be worried?” Kakashi asks, genuinely interested in the answer.

“Saa…”

“No.” The girl answers promptly, cutting over his counterpart’s attempt at humor. “Four claws don’t eat people either.”

“Good to know.” He probably should ask the girl’s name, since she’s being helpful and weirdly clingy and all. Hmn… Nah, he’ll just wait until someone slips up and uses her name in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadako-hime is Madara’s half-sister. She’s a 5-claw like her mother and has a limited tolerance for Uchiha bullshit. When Madara went rogue, she went after him and killed him herself rather than let his crazy ass roam around causing stupid amounts of trouble because she’s well aware of her siblings’ and cousins’ penchant for endless drama. Afterwards, she retreated from human interaction and is considered reclusive even among 5-claws.
> 
> 5-claw dragons aren’t particularly more powerful than their 4-claw cousins, but they are more peaceful and a lot longer lived. They tend to have smaller families, but are more communal than 4-claw clans.  
> 4-claw clans tend to be large and suspicious of anyone not in their clan, even in the same community. They often live among humans because they get bored without conflict and attacking 5-claw dragons is a deeply ingrained taboo, though they have long since lost any records as to _why_ it’s a taboo. _(The why goes something like this: The last clan of 4-claws to break the taboo ended up thinking that they were koi fish for the next three generations.)_  
>  Incidentally, the 5-claw communities _do_ have records that stretch back that far and further, but they don’t share their archives. _(Sadako-hime may have gone around to every 5-claw community she could track down and made copies of all the historical incidents for her own records. She likes to read through them on O-bon and giggle. Rather than regrets or wishes, she’s the kind of person to write ‘fuck you’ and ‘you’d better stay in the afterlife so I don’t have to kill your stupid ass again’ in her paper lanterns before floating them down the Naka. Given that her only living family are all Uchihas and most of her dead are too, and her hatred of Uchiha melodrama, no one thinks this is too weird.)_  
>  In general, neither variety of dragon eat humans, pigs or catfish. _(Although in full out battle, an occasional hand or such might get swallowed, this isn’t actually common, since most of the time dragons prefer to fight in human form as it’s handy for using weapons and has a smaller body mass to actually get hit.)_ Or so the saying goes. Basically they don’t eat sentient things or scavenger/partial scavenger type creatures. If asked why, the explanation is a general complaint spiel about nasty textures and flavors, even for the sentient things one. _“It’s too smart to taste good. Blah, blah, blah.”_ Since this is often accompanied with in-depth analyses of flavor profiles of pretty much everything the dragon being questioned has ever tasted, most people don’t venture the mistake of asking twice.


	2. Possession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iruka feels possessive, Sakumo makes Kakashi uncomfortable, Kakashi traumatizes Rin and Obito a bit. _(And then worldbuilding makes a surprise bid for supremacy.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoshiko: 7yr old Hatake girl. Currently an Academy student. Alternate occupation: Kakashi-limpet. Since she doesn't get as much attention as she considers appropriate from her 'Shishi-nii', she deems 'Kakashi 2.0' an acceptable substitute.
> 
> ~
> 
> Incidentally, Sadako-hime threatened to eat chunin-Danzo if he ever came near her again, so Tobirama removed him from his circle of aides and replaced him with someone else.  
> Instead of becoming a war hero, he eventually took over as the career Genin Commander and is constantly putting forth short-term programs that have bored-jounin-on-extended-leave working with career genin and widening his pool of minions who are qualified to take higher rank missions, although he then tends to shortly thereafter lose most of them to promotions via the chunin exams, much to his continuing frustration. Actually, he’s somewhat less creepy than canon, since he still has full use of both arms and eyes and thus does not look like a half-baked mummy wandering around. _(The guy who replaced him as Tobirama’s aide died being a war hero, since he lacked Danzo’s cockroach-like resiliency.)_ He’s still too afraid of Sadako-hime to risk trying for a higher-profile position, though.
> 
> Rin and Obito are married to each other.

Iruka may struggle with his possessive instincts before he lays claim to the outworlder, but the struggle is short, lasting a mere moment. And once he’s made up his mind, he doesn’t bother with so much as a whit of regret. His human _is_ very interesting, after all, and a non-raiju version of the Hatake Clan heir was bound to be claimed by _someone_ if Iruka had passed up the chance.

Of course, he understands the Hokage’s reaction. Prior to this, Iruka has had to intervene on the behalf of students who have overenthusiastically started claiming humans. Or four-claws in a few memorable cases. _(A claim is a much more serious matter to a resident of a hidden village than it is to an individual with no other authority over them, after all.)_

By agreement, no claims on raiju are acknowledged unless both parties are legal adults, due to the fact that raiju have _their own_ expectations about claims, which makes claims on them far from a casual affair. It is one of the first thing dragon children are taught, and something that most of them are good about respecting, though the four-claws have more instances of inadvisably making such claims at a young (if usually legal) age.

For instance, Iruka is aware of Obito’s claim on Kakashi (the raiju) having been a source of disruption to the Uchiha, who had forbidden him to make the claim public while still in Academy when they had not been able to change the boy’s mind on the matter. Obito had made it public as soon as he’d been awarded his hitai-ate, much to his clan’s disgust over his lack of common sense _(not that Uchihas are known for common sense even on a good day)_. Fortunately, Kakashi had chosen to be amused rather than rejecting the claim or the drama most likely would have gotten far out of hand. And Kakashi is a bit wrong on a dragon never giving a teammate an eye, as he would have discovered should he have happened to have lost an eye like the outworlder Kakashi had. Clan law may forbid giving others eyes, but it wouldn’t necessarily stop a dragon from giving a claimed person the eye of a defeated enemy dragon. Even if that is highly inadvisable and an ordinary eye would be a much better gift.

Kakashi’s (his Kakashi) reaction of puzzlement is something that will need fixing, but Iruka has little doubt that the Hatake clan will explain it to him. Even if not, Kakashi is clever and will no doubt figure out the gist of it enough to make explaining simpler.

After they part ways, the raiju Kakashi shepherding his Kakashi away, he strolls down to check on the civilians claimed communally by all the local dragons. ( _There had been a few fights over who was allowed to claim them until it was decided that they were too valuable to be claimed by any one individual or clan._ ) Eating at Ichiraku’s is always a treat, not only for the excellent food, but for their attitude of open and honest kindness to all.

~

If Kakashi feels a bit overwhelmed by unfamiliar Hatakes _(particularly the 7yr old limpet)_ and various wolves and all the general changes to the estate, meeting his father face to face is worse. Sakumo hesitates, taking a discreet sniff, then raising both eyebrows in surprise and turning a look on Kakashi’s counterpart that demands an explanation.

Shishi’s _(because why not use the limpet’s nickname for his counterpart? It’s certainly easier than coming up with a new name for himself)_ explanation is succinct and accurate, if given in a slightly sulky tone.

Sakumo listens without much change in expression, then abruptly hugs Kakashi, startling him. “I’m so glad you’re alive, son.”

After a moment spent fighting down the urge to extricate himself violently, he gingerly pats Sakumo’s back in response. “Thank you? I’m…glad you’re alive too.”

“I don’t understand why I would’ve committed suicide in your universe, however.” Sakumo plaints, letting go of him in deference to his clear discomfort.

Kakashi grimaces. “He was shunned after a mission where he chose to save his ungrateful teammates instead of completing his mission, and the Land of Fire suffered great losses because of his failure, enough to kickstart the Third war.”

“Ah…that mission. I sent my wolves to complete it while I rescued my teammates. There were some skirmishes with Iwa and Suna after that, a minor war, but nothing so large as to warrant being named. How strange that one trade agreement not made could shift the scope of a war, even with other tensions present.” Sakumo replies in a contemplative tone.

He blinks a few times, absorbing that. It appears that this universe has more divergences than simply the existence of dragons and raiju. Though he’s surprised that an agreement delivered by a summons was accepted; in all probability, it would not have been in _his_ universe. Perhaps the recipient had assumed that the summons was a Hatake in wolf form? Intriguing thought. He wonders if the raiju-Hatakes can actually shift form or not? Not that it matters, given truth’s fickle relationship with belief, he supposes.

“Can I ask why you keep saying that I ‘belong’ to Iruka-sensei?” He asks, avoiding being nosy about family secrets for the nonce.

Both men gape at him for a moment, then Shishi facepalms. “Of course. No dragons in your universe means you wouldn’t know.”

Sakumo clears his throat, looking at a loss for words.

“It’s cuz dragons claim people they think are interesting.” The limpet pipes up unexpectedly from where she’s still clinging to him, though the side of his waist now instead of his front. “Rin-nee and Shishi-nii are claimed by Obito-nii. He gets all pouty if one of them won’t spend time with him.”

“I…see.” He doesn’t really. Does this mean he’s expected to spend extra time with Iruka-sensei? Neither man corrects her nor bothers to elaborate, though, so he has to take her word for it. Kakashi puts it in the mental box of curiosities to be satisfied later.

~

Hoshiko-chan _(which, as it turns out, is the limpet’s name)_ somehow takes over getting him a new wardrobe, which involves dragging him hither and thither to various clan members and demanding various spare items that she apparently recalls them having, then surveying the cumulative result and declaring that they are going shopping. Which…he can’t really argue. At the very least he needs a new cloth for his hitai-ate, spare masks and new sandals. And Sakumo _had_ told him to put anything he needed on the clan tab.

It’s easy to forget that this Konoha isn’t _his_ Konoha, despite seeing alive those who he remembers having fallen and all the unfamiliar faces under hitai-ates. It is _still_ Konoha, if not his. Every now and then as he ambles in Hoshiko-chan’s wake, he sees a familiar face lacking the scars he remembers or bearing ones he doesn’t. Each time is a tiny jolt, a tiny reminder that he is out of place and time _(well, maybe time; time had obviously figured in there somewhere given that he has a sharingan again)_.

“Bakashi!”

He twitches slightly. Restrains the urge to kill this _once-treasured-and-lost-friend-now-traitor/not-traitor-in-this-world_. Apparently Obito is predictable in his choice of nicknames. …And still a bumbling idiot, because he stumbles and almost goes sprawling when Kakashi deftly sidesteps a boisterous hug. Well, he supposes it’s an improvement over childhood, where the sprawling would have unquestionably happened. Though a far cry from easy poise and unsettling madness of the highly dangerous rogue in his own universe. Looking at _this_ Obito, it’s easy to see where Shishi would find that rogue an impossibility. To be fair, he had thought likewise until confronted with the reality in person.

He ignores the self-pitying whining that results from the stumble.

Rin, however… Rin’s eyes are narrowed on him in sharp contemplation. She murmurs, “You’re not Kakashi.”

Hoshiko-chan shoves Rin. “He’s not Shishi-nii, but you leave him alone! He’s Iruka-sama’s. And Shishi-nii’s twin.”

Rin blinks down at the fierce girl, then relaxes just the faintest bit. “Is that so?”

“It is!”

“Wait, who said ‘Iruka-sama’? You’re not talking about that pompous noble from the capital, are you? And how come _I_ didn’t know Bakashi had a twin!?” Obito demands, regaining his balance.

“What noble?” Hoshiko-chan demands. “I’m talking about Iruka-sama. You know, the five-claw?”

Obito blanches. “Iruka-sensei? _That_ five-claw?”

“Duh.”

“The one who sometimes works the Missions desk because he’s _bored_?”

“How would I know? I’m still in Academy.” Hoshiko points out, crossing her arms.

Obito makes a whining-dying noise that trails off into a whimper. “He _always_ makes me redo my reports. And he _yells_ if I tell him he’s being mean. And- And- The last person who _didn’t_ rewrite their report to his satisfaction went around thinking they were a _cat_ for a week and had to be given mental-health leave for a _full month afterwards!_ ”

Kakashi giggles, because he can absolutely picture either Iruka doing _just that_ , though the one in his universe hadn’t had the ability to make someone think they were a cat. _Sad that, it would have been fun to see._

“Why does it have to be _him_!? If there’s two Kakashis, _I_ should get _both_!” Obito complains dramatically.

He contemplates that situation for a moment, then says coolly, “No. I don’t think so. You see, I’m not _actually_ Shishi’s twin; I am Kakashi. And in my universe, you’re an S rank criminal who is a threat on a scale that all five Elemental Nations and many minor countries as well, have banded together to fight you. I’m told you’re loyal in this universe, but it would probably be better for you if you don’t throw yourself at me like that again. I might take you as a threat next time.

Just for emphasis, he eye smiles sweetly, pleased when Obito shudders and steps back.

Then Obito gets ahold of himself, straightening his shoulders. “Another universe? I know there _are_ other ones, but I didn’t think anyone could cross from one to another.”

“Saa… It probably has to do with your Tsukuyomi and my lightning chakra interacting to affect time-space briefly.” Kakashi posits, then shrugs. “Just so you know, dragons and raijus are only jutsus in my universe, and _this_ -” He opens the eye with a scar over it. “Was a gift, not stolen.”

Rin and Obito _both_ flinch at the sight of it.

Kakashi closes his eye and shrugs. “It was also stolen from me some time before leaving my own universe, so I don’t actually know why I have it again. Though Iruka-sensei says that space-time interactions can be tricky like that.”

“Look…” Obito swallows hard, then blurts, “You need to come with me to see the Clan head _now_. Iruka-sensei’s protection is only good if the clan _knows_ you have his protection.”

“Protection? Saa…I’ll come. Though the only one I’m really worried about is Itachi.”

“I’m coming too!” Hoshiko declares pugnaciously.

“You don’t even know that much? If a dragon claims you, you have their protection. You might not be _my_ Bakashi, but if someone messed with him, they’d have to deal with _me_.”

He raises an eyebrow and wonders aloud, “Is that supposed to be a deterrent?”

“Hey!” Obito yelps in an offended tone. “I’ll have you know I’m an A-ranked threat in the Bingo books!”

“Isn’t that a little underpowered to deal with someone able to beat up Shishi?” Kakashi is truthfully interested in the answer.

“Oh shut up! You’re just as much of a jerk as Bakakashi!” Obito’s tone is pure sulk.

_Ah, so he’s an S-rank threat in this universe, too. He’s so proud of himself!_

“There’s at least twenty other Uchihas I’d worry about before Itachi.” Rin comments in a curious tone.

“Mmn. Him snapping and murdering his entire clan other than his little brother in my universe left something of an impression on me.” Kakashi tells her in a pleasant tone.

“You know…I don’t think I’ll ask.” Rin decides.

“Probably wise.” He agrees.

Obito apparently holds no such qualms, however. “Wait… So there’s only three Uchiha left in your universe? And I’m rogue? And I presume Itachi is rogue or in prison, if he murdered the clan? So that means only that brat Sasuke is alive and loyal to Konoha over there?”

Kakashi eyes him for a long moment as they walk towards _(presumably)_ the old Uchiha district _(not the one they’d been moved to after the Kyuubi attack)_ , then decides he might as well tell him the truth. “No. There are no loyal Uchihas left.” He says calmly. “Sasuke went rogue in pursuit of power. Itachi is dead, though I’m not so sure if he died from disease or if he managed to commit suicide via Sasuke. The coroner report on the remains found indicated either could have been the cause. Though I lean towards the latter being true, since it probably wouldn’t occur to Sasuke to desecrate the dead, even in pursuit of revenge. Naruto and Sakura still want to bring back Sasuke, but it’s unlikely that will happen or that he’ll be pardoned if he does return.”

Apparently this is enough to shock Obito and Rin silent for the remainder of their walk.

It’s also enough that Hoshiko-chan gives him a concerned look and resumes the limpet act. _So, perhaps his voice wasn’t quite as calm as he thought it was. Ah, well_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Showing them his sharingan is actually what fully convinces Rin and Obito that he’s from another universe, because no one from theirs would be stupid enough to come anywhere near Konoha if they managed to steal an Uchiha eye. And _particularly_ not while henged to look almost identical _(different facial scars)_ to the Hatake heir and accompanied by one of the Hatake children. Him being from a different universe is actually less mind-boggling to them than if he was an imposter. Because that would mean that Hoshiko-chan was _also_ an imposter. Which would mean that someone had managed to infiltrate deep enough into Konoha ranks to get a specific description of her looks and behavior pattern. Because a Hatake child would be able to _smell_ an imposter and certainly wouldn’t be willingly accompanying one. And an imposter walking around in Kakashi’s particular ‘guise’ would be pretty much deliberately baiting the unfiltered wrath of both the Uchiha and the Hatake clans. There’s some other details that figure into it, but in short _(since this is getting kind of convoluted)_ , if Kakashi was a fake, then simply walking around Konoha would be classed as suicidal madness.  
> Meanwhile, raiju-Sakumo and raiju-Kakashi: _Oh, the Hokage’s allowed it, there’s no problem. And Hoshi-chan will be there to look out for him if something does happen. It’ll be fiiiine_.
> 
> I’m actually really hazy on the end parts of canon, so if the details Kakashi is imparting are a bit off, forgive me and chalk it up to AU reasons, please. I’m assuming Konoha got Itachi’s corpse back, but _not_ in good shape due to decomposition reasons. This is mostly to creep out the characters a little, and if it creeps you out, I apologize, as that was not the intent.  
> Human-Kakashi is not in a good place emotionally.
> 
> A lot of shit went down in canon that the residents of this universe don’t have an equivalent for, due to various reasons _(not least among which is Madara being dead-dead),_ such as Zetsus not existing. Zetsus not being a thing means there’s literally hundreds of clans that never self-destructed or were encouraged to mutual annihilation over the centuries.  
> Kiri was still a shit-show of violent prejudice, but the duration was rather short, given that there were at least twice as many clans around _(a number of which were 4-claw clans)_ and a bunch of them joined together and fought back. It did not end well for those who started the pogroms.  
> Nowadays, Kiri has a policy of ‘phasing out’ Academy students and genin who show signs of prejudice towards clans with kekkai genkai, because none of the survivors enjoyed the ‘fighting comrades’ thing. Either by way of being encouraged back towards civilian life or _(for the more rabid ones)_ ‘dying tragically’ on a C-rank. And yes, that’s absolutely reverse prejudice, but the older generation fought a bloody, bloody war over the issue and they don’t want their kids and grandkids to have to face the same. Though the actual incident rate of the deliberately losing a genin on a C-rank is pretty low, because the clans were understandably pretty thorough in wiping out those families and individuals pushing the pogroms.  
> Kumo and Kiri hate each other’s guts, because Kumo repeatedly tried to take advantage of the war to swipe kekkai genkais and were viciously thwarted in most cases. Kiri did not and does not appreciate the opportunism, and Kumo still looks down its nose at Kiri for all the internecine strife _(as well as being miffed at being thwarted for the most part)_.  
> Since the Third War never happened as such, Namikaze never gained the same reputation _(though he was/is? a valued jounin)_ and never was considered as a Hokage candidate.  
> There may also be more Uzumakis than expected wandering around or living in Uzushio still, due to the local 5-claws taking exception to having their part-blood relatives slaughtered and intervening…
> 
> …I’d like to say that I have no idea where most of this worldbuilding came from, since it pretty much popped up out of thin air as I wrote the notes section. And I hope no one died of italics overload while reading.


	3. Fugaku's Decision and the Terror of Shopping With a Pre-genin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking with Fugaku, Shopping with Hoshiko

Fugaku is pretty much as he remembers him. No, that’s a lie. His most recent memory of Fugaku is of him dead and cold at his son’s hand, lying in a pool of his own congealed blood, overlapping with a like pool from his slain wife beside him. Their youngest son laying shuddering and blank eyed a short distance away, trapped in whatever nightmare Itachi had chosen to inflict on him instead of death.

He blinks away the memory. Fugaku is indeed much as he remembers him _before_ that incident had taken his life. Though older than he remembers. Stern, but not unapproachable. His expression stating that he’ll take no bullshit, but his posture declaring that he’s open to listening if one has the courage to speak. Obito certainly has the courage to speak, or at least lack of common sense.

At Obito’s explanation, Fugaku looks Kakashi up and down curiously, then activates his own sharingan. “Show me.”

 _Huh. Well, that’s one way to verify, he supposes._ It hadn’t occurred to him that dragon eyes and human sharingan might have visible chakric differences. He opens his eye.

Fugaku studies him for a couple long moments, then shuts off his sharingan. “Indeed, you are human, and the eye you bear isn’t a dragon’s, though very similar. The pattern… Did you receive Obito’s eye in your own universe, for some reason?”

Kakashi closes his eye, easing the drain, and eye smiles at him. “Yes, I lost an eye in the third war and Obito pushed me out of the way of a falling boulder I could not see and in turn was crushed beneath it. He made Rin give me the eye from his good side, calling it a present for becoming jounin.”

“Hn. That sounds like the idiot.” Fugaku agrees easily.

“Hey!”

“Since it was a present from your teammate and _not_ a dragon eye, I’ll allow you to keep it. The clan will be informed within the next couple days, but until then, do not show it to others.” Fugaku shifts his gaze to Obito and his tone turns threatening. “Obito, if you ever become a missing nin and turn on Konoha, I will end you _myself_. Am I understood?”

Obito eeps and nods frantically, while Rin rubs soothing circles on his back. “I won’t! I swear!”

When the dark eyes turn back to him, Kakashi inclines his head in lazy agreement.

“Why aren’t you wearing your hitai-ate?” Fugaku demands.

“Saa…” He fishes it out of his pocket and holds it up for inspection. “I need a new cloth for it.”

“We have spares. Mikoto!”

Mikoto peaks out of the kitchen, knife in hand. “Yes, dear?”

“Grab one of the spare hitai-ate cloths, will you? Hatake’s been going around with his in his pocket.”

“Of course. Let me turn off the stove, and then I’ll be just a moment.”

Kakashi feels _a little_ bad about inconveniencing Mikoto, but it saves _him_ time at least.

~

He thought, no _knew_ , that genins were bad, but as it turns out, shopping with a pre-genin is _worse_.

Hoshiko flatly refuses to let him put the cool and perfectly serviceable charcoal colored masks that match his own on the Clan tab as replacements. Instead, she points at a stack of _(otherwise identical)_ masks in baby blue. “Black and grey are _boring_. Besides, everyone will mix you up with Shishi-nii if you wear the same color.”

The clerk just looks on in amusement and with a total lack of sympathy.

Kakashi can’t _force her_ to let him put it on the Clan tab. She was put in charge of this little shopping trip by Sakumo himself, after all. But he’s holding his own in the argument until in exasperation she reaches up and tugs on his, causing it to give up the ghost on the spot. He spreads his hands in disgust for a moment before snagging the defunct mask to hold it up as temporary cover and allows her to buy the baby blue masks for him, because the clerk’s gob-smacked look is already making him uncomfortable. Even colorful masks in a shade of blue that reminds him of frilly doll dresses _(civilian girls have weird hobbies)_ are better than none. Star struck admirers are only fun when they play along and aren’t sincerely bent on hunting him down like a nin-dog on a scent. _Now if he had clan markings like Sukea, that served to make him look completely ordinary, that would be one thing, but Hatake clan marks…well, they’re much smaller and more discrete with nothing to detract from… Well, it had only taken three kidnapping attempts by civilians who couldn’t resist his adorableness as a small child for his father to give in and let him wear a scarf or mask everywhere._ He snatches up one of the blue masks and puts it on as soon as the clerk adds them to the tab and goes back to staring at him with a slightly bedazzled look.

The aggravating child just gives him a self-satisfied look with her hands on her hips before nodding, “It looks good on you. Much better than black. Maybe we should get you some other colors too.”

“No!” He says hurriedly. “Blue is _just fine_. I don’t need any other colors.”

She eyes him doubtfully, then sighs. “If you say so. Fine. Let’s find you some new sandals. I think they have them in blue, too.”

 _Fortunately they are all out of blue and most other colors, and even Hoshiko can’t pretend that dirty white is a better substitute for black or grey_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically the previous chapter felt unfinished enough that the muse kicked out a little more.


End file.
